“There were speculations, late yesterday, that some unknown persons had planted a bomb in a popular shopping mall on Victoria Island, Lagos.” So says This Day Online.
“But against the backdrop of fear and apprehension in some quarters of possible terrorist attacks on some sections of the country, the police, yesterday, assured Nigerians of adequate security nationwide.”
Nevertheless, there is reason for Nigerians to be concerned: “The protesters in Kaduna . . . demanded the immediate prosecution of ‘Jihad,’ asking for the enthronement of an Islamic government in Nigeria with immediate effect.
“The development yesterday shattered the fragile peace in Kaduna as markets and other businesses summarily closed shop, while residents scampered for cover in the confusion that ensued.
“Demonstrators, armed with placards and reciting various Qu’ranic verses, marched through major streets. They condemned what they described as anti-Islamic policies of the United States government in the Middle East.
“The police confirmed that the protesters began their march shortly after the Jumat prayers, from the Maiduguri Road Central Mosque in the heart of the metropolis.”
Hadn’t they learned at that mosque that jihad is a spiritual struggle? Apparently not, and they invoked no less illustrious a personage than the Prophet Muhammad himself in support of their less pacifistic views: “To redress some of their grievances, the protesters in a statement they circulated said: ‘The only solution is Jihad, the type of jihad put into practise by Prophet Muhammed and exemplified by Shehu Usman Dan Fodio and the late Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran. We Muslims should unite and embrace this concept of Jihad that will undoubtedly empower us to destroy oppression and oppressors, and in its place establish Islam.”